CinderPokemon
by TotallyAwesome3858
Summary: "Come on, haven't you always wanted to be a trainer?" Pokemon with a Fairy Tale twist!
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: So just to shed a bit of light on the story. It's based on the game Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Only this time, to make it more interesting, you have to be 16 to be a trainer. And now it has a Cinderella spin! Enjoy it, thanks for reading!**

Prologue.

_Today Autumn and Hazel turned 15. Mom made me make the cake. Both of them got their own pokemon too. Autumn got a Plusle and Hazel got a Lovedisc. Mom thinks that they should start training early. But I heard them talking yesterday. Neither of them want to be pokemon trainers, they just want strong pokemon right off the bat. Hazel said that she knows where a Daycare center is, so she wants to drop off her Lovedisc there to be raised. I think it's dumb! Why would they even ask mom for pokemon? I already take care of everything, and now I have to take care of their pokemon. I won't be sixteen for two more years, so hopefully I can leave to become a trainer! I have to go now. I'm meeting up with Brendan But I can't let mom know!_

I closed my diary. That was the last entry, dated almost eighteen months ago. The diary was completely full though, so I couldn't write anymore. 1405 entries were in it. Dating back to the time I was six and practiced writing for the first time. But I was fifteen now, about to be sixteen. My birthday was six months away, in May. The month I was named after. Not like anyone around here would know it, my mother chose to call me by my middle name, Agatha... I hated it, but she hated May. When she would write my name down it would say M. Agatha. Well, at least she acknowedges the first initial...

"Oh, Aggie!" I heard Hazel call. My sisters took great joy in my name, and the nickname they gave me.

I got up from my desk and walked over to the door. Well, actually the door frame. Mother didn't trust me enough to have a door... I walked down the rickity stairs that led up to my room. My room was the attic, but I still liked it. It was more privet. At the end of the stairs was the long hallway, Hazel's room was the first door on the right. I opened the door to see her sitting up in bed.

"And why didn't you knock?" She said sharply. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room. Then I knocked two times and heard "Come in!" I opened the door once again and waited for her instructions.

"Luvdisc needs her pool cleaned outside. And I need some clothes washed. Also don't forget to give me skim milk for breakfast." She spat at me. I turned to see an overflowing basket of clothes. So I crammed them all in and walked out of the room.

I turned the corner of the hallway. This is where Autunm's room is, I was hoping she was still asleep.

"Agatha! Get in here!" I groaned silently, put down the basket, and opened her door. She was too mad at something to notice that I didn't knock.

"Why are you letting my laundry pile up? Do it all today!" She snapped. Autumn was the meaner of my two sisters. Hazel tried to compete with her, but she was no match. While I was gathering all the clothes from around her room, she threw some shoes at me.

"Make sure you shine these too! And I want them back by tonight!"

I finally got all the clothes and shoes. She only nailed me with one shoe, but it hit me right it the forehead. I was used to little injuries like this. Mother didn't care, she inflicted most of the injuries herself. It took every ounce of strenght to lieft both baskets and the shoes up. I couldn't afford to leave anything behind. I turned the last corner in our hallway before the stairs. Unfortunately I had to pass mother's door, and it was open... I tried creeping past as quietly as I could, hoping she was in the bathroom. I was getting away with it! I was almost to the stairs... But her Mightyena saw me and started to bark. It only barked at me...

"Agatha, is that you? Get in here!"

I put down the basket and walked into her room. Mightyena was not happy, so I kept some space between me and him. Mother was in her bathroom... Plucking her eyebrows...

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"Today you need to clean out Luvdisc's pool. Give Mighty a bath, give Plusle a bath-clean out the bathtub after. Then I want you to clean the kitchen floor after breakfast and do all of your sister's laundry. I'll let you know the rest later. Get going!" I practically ran out of the room and heaved the laundry down the stairs. We didn't have a washing machine, but we had a dryer. I didn't really understand it, maybe it was just to make it harder on me. I checked the time, it was only 7:30, but everyone wanted breakfast ready at eight. So I threw the laundry and the shoes into the laundry room and started to make breakfast.

Hazel and Autumn loved to torment me. I would constantly get insulted, pushed tripped, and nagged. Plus they had developed a great aim since I was their personal target. They even tried to get their pokemon to hate me, like Mightyena did, but it didn't work. I was the only one that took care of them, so they refused to attack me.

After breakfast I washed and dryed two loads of laundry. Then I started to wash the floors. I got pretty good at it over the years, so it was done fast. Then I got to do the dishes. Autumn and Hazel would purposely use two plates every morning.

Once I was three quarters of the way done with laundry, my mother walked into the room.

"Agatha, we're going out tonight. Do. Not. Leave. This. House. You can go into the back to clean out Luvdisc's pool, but that is all." She turned on her heel and walked out. Then I heard the commotion of my sisters getting ready. I guessed they were leaving soon becuase I heard a lot of scrambling. Finally the front door slammed shut, and I was alone.

I looked at the clock, it was only one in the afternoon. My heart fluttered as I sighed a sigh of relief. They didn't leave me alone like this too often. Then it took me only thirty minutes to finish the laundry. And about ten more minutes to put it all away.

Giving Mightyena a bath was always hard, so I decided to get it out of the way. He snapped at me and growled. But I was used to it, I learned quickly how to bathe him from a distance. When he was down, I shut him in mom's room. Bathing Plusle was easy cause she practically bathed herself. Next I had to clean out Luvdisc's pool, which I did in about five minutes. I wanted all the time I could up in my room.

Finally I was able to go upstairs. I loved being in my room! Nobody in the whole house came up here except for me. My walls were covered with pokemon pictures that my friend Brendan gave to me. Thinking of Brendan, I looked over to the window. He would usually turn up on the tree that grew right outide my little square window that had no glass in it. Almost every night he would stop by...

I stared at the window from my desk for I don't know how long. Finally I thought that I should scan the house for anything out of place. I would really get it if anything was wrong. After a quick run of the house, nothing was wrong. Everything was perfectly clean. So I went back up to my room, but screamed at what I saw.

Brendan was climbing through my window. When I screamed he fell to the floor.

"Brendan! What are you doing? You scared me to death," I said helping him up.

"Sorry, I just noticed your mom and sisters leaving so I thought I would come visit," he said with a smile. Then he went over and sat at my desk.

Brendan was my best friend. He was also my only friend. I had to hide our relationship from my mom and his dad, Professor Birch. Our houses were right next door. So we had to be crafty. My mom and my sisters would torture me to no end if they knew I had a friend. And his father would probably tell my mom. Usually Brendan would climb up the tree at night and jump into my window. Mom, Hazel, and Autumn would pass out at around nine o'clock or they would be out. After all these years of being friends, we developed a system.

"So how's the workload today?" he asked playfully.

"Heavy... It was laundry and bath day."

"Do you ever think that mom of yours will let my dad give you a starter pokemon?"

"I doubt it! That would make me happy. May being happy isn't allowed in this house."

"Don't you mean Agatha being happy isn't allowed?"

"Shut up."

Brendan and I stayed up in my room talking quietly. We couldn't let Mightyena hear us either, he would certainly rat me out. We kept talking for hours, until we heard the front door open loudly and my sisters arguing.

"Quick! Get out! They'll be up any second!" I said pushing brendan towards the window.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't work too hard," he said as he jumped out the window and onto the tree. I watched him happily as he ran into his house.

But then all the happiness left my body. I forgot to shine Autumn's shoes...

I ran down stairs, everyone was still in the kitchen arguing. I couldn't get to the laundry room... But I had an idea. I slipped out the back door and into the night. The laundry room had a giant window and I always left it open a crack. So I walked around to the window, it was dark, so I figured the door was shut. I climbed inside and turned on the light. Unfortunately, I was just a few seconds too slow... Autumn ripped open the sliding door to see the shoes all over the floor.

"Agatha! I told you to have these shined by tonight!" Her voice was hysterical. "It's eight! Why aren't these shined?"

"I-I-I uh..." I stuttered but my mind couldn't find a good excuse...

"Just! Do! It!" she screamed. But she didn't just scream. Her hand connected with my face perfectly, causeing me to fall to the ground. What choice did I have then? I started to shine the shoes...

And this was just one day.


	2. A Little Adventure

Chapter One: A Little Adventure.

The next day was brutal. Autumn was still mad at me for forgetting her shoes. But when she saw my bruised face when I walked into her room, she was instantly proud of herself.

"Well, I see somebody had a little accident," she said with a giggle. "We don't want that happening again. Do we?"

I shook my head.

"Good, because we're leaving for Lilycove city tonight. And you need to have your head in tact for all the work you need to catch up on. Were going to be gone for the day, and overnight..."

_Just over night? _I thought. _Why not longer?_

"And don't think you're coming! Because of you I'm slightly behind my packing schedule. Now, get out of my sight. Mom wants you."

I couldn't be happier to leave, even with such an awful excuse. I knew mom would be mad at me for making Autumn hit me. And she was.

"What's this I hear about Autumn's shoes?" she asked me. But when she turned from her mirror and saw my purple temple and cheek, all she said was, "Oh... I see it's been taken care of. Anyway, we'll be gone for the night. We'll be back tomorrow evening. I left a list of chores for you. You may not leave the house. You may not slack. We're leaving in just a couple hours. Go get breakfast ready, now!" I ran out of the room and down the stairs. When I started cooking, Hazel and Autumn watched me, gloating.

"It's too bad little Aggie can't come with us," Hazel said.

"Yeah, but we can't take her into town looking like that. This girl doesn't own anything worth being seen in," Autumn laughed. But it was true. I wore their old clothes, which were much too big. Autumn and Hazel were rather large girls, I would even call them fat. I was skinny and very small. So I had to modify their clothes to fit me. Otherwise I would trip over the pants and the shirt.

"Agatha! Hurry up!" Hazel screamed. I was almost done, so I served them quickly. I didn't want another bruise. And I didn't want to make them mad. This was the first time they were going to leave me home overnight in years, I couldn't mess it up.

"Agatha, go up and get our things. They're up in our rooms, bring them down here," Autumn said through a mouthful of food. I obeyed and ran upstairs. Each of them had three suitcases, but only two out of six were full. So I guessed they had some shopping to do. But the one suitcase that was full was really full. I hauled all of their things down the stairs. But that wasn't the end of it. Next they wanted me to carry it all to the hot air balloon they were taking. After I crammed it all in, I wondered how they were going to fit...

"We're walking to Slateport and taking a little cruise. Mighty is coming with us, so we'll be fine." Mother announced while I was doing dishes. I wished they would hurry up and leave already!

"Bye Aggie!" Autumn and Hazel said in unison. But Autumn had more to say, "Listen, if you go anywhere near my room, if I see one thing different, I'll give you another nice bruise to match. You get it?"

"Got it," I said. But that didn't stop her from slapping me in the back of the head as she walked by. Then mother had something to say as well.

"Listen to her, and don't go in any of our rooms. You will stay in this house and behave yourself." She walked out with Plusle and Mightyena on her heels. I looked out the window to see Hazel grab Luvdisc from her pond. I tried to look sad as I watched them go, just so they wouldn't come back. As soon as they were out of sight, I rejoiced.

I haven't had the house all to myself in years! But all I could think of was telling Brendan. I kept looking out the kitchen window at his house. Usually he knew right when my sisters left because of there arguing. I gave up on that pretty quick though, and went up to my room to enjoy the morning.

It was so nice to be able to read without someone throwing stuff at me. I had an old book of gym leaders, a book of pokemon in the Hoenn region, and my "Paper Pokedex". I loved reading all of them, but I don't know where I got them. The book of gym leaders had something written on the inside cover, but I could never read it... It was so faded. I brought my face as close as I could to it.

"Hey!" Brendan said, squeezing through my window. I jumped out of the chair and slammed the book down. My heart was racing.

"Are you gonna scare me half to death every time you come over?"

"Sorry, I... Oh my god, what happened to your face?"

"Oh, well... You know how Autumn gets," I said with a forced laugh. But Brendan wasn't smiling.

"I can't believe that you're fifteen and she still hits you like that! What is wrong with her?"

"Brendan, please. It's fine, there's nothing I can do..." That was true. I was terrified of my mom, and of y sisters. I did everything they said, and it's been that way for years... I ran my fingers down the deep purple side of my face. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yes! It is that bad! Why don't you stand up for yourself?"

"I can't! Mom has Mightyena, Autumn had brute strength, and Hazel is mom's favorite. I can't win."

"She wouldn't set that Mightyena on you." He was a little too confident in himself.

"Oh really?" I said lifting up my large pant leg to reveal several scars, "She's done it plenty of times."

"May," it was so weird to hear my name, "You need to stand up for yourself. You have to do something..."

"There's nothing I can do, I have no where to go. My dad's dead and I have no other family. Brendan, I'm stuck here. Maybe when I'm sixteen she'll let me leave. But until then I'm staying here, I have no choice."

He looked at me, disappointed.

"Brendan, you just don't understand..."

"May, I have to go, Dad's due back any minute. But listen to me, one day you're going to have to get a little adventure in you." He squeezed back out the window and I watched him run back to the house. A few minutes later, Professor Birch walked in from Route 101.

I kept replaying his words over and over in my head that night...

_You have to get a little adventure in you._

I grabbed my Gym Leaders book. It had something written on the inside cover, so why not add more. I scribbled in Brendan's words right above the faded writing. Then I got back to figuring out what exactly the text said... But after a while my head hurt from squinting, so I went to bed.

The next morning I woke up at dawn, it was such a habit. I got dressed, brush my hair, and walked down the rickety stairway. It was so weird not to hear my name being called, well my middle name anyway. Then I got to make my own breakfast, and actually eat it. Usually I just ate toast, but today I got to eat the eggs and bacon I made for them.

After the biggest meal of my life, I walked back upstairs to my room. I started to read my Gym Leaders book, for just about the thousandth time.

I finished it about three hours later. When I flipped the book closed I decided just to sit back in my chair and relax. The little clock on my desk said 12:30. So I decided to daydream a little...

_CRASH!_

I jumped to my feet and ran down the stairs two at a time. The crash sounded close, so I ran into Hazel's room. But there was nothing, I left the door open and headed to Autumn's room... Nothing. Finally I got to mom's room, and that's where I saw it...

A little blue pokemon was sitting on mom's vanity. I approached it slowly to see what it was doing. I didn't want it to attack me... When I got closer, I saw that it was tearing apart mom's bag of mud bath.

I gasped loudly and the pokemon spun around to look at me. I now recognized it as a Mudkip. But it's absolutely adorable face wasn't going to distract me from the horrible mess it was making on the vanity.

"It's okay, buddy. Just come here, and we'll get you back outside..." I spoke very slowly and softly. I didn't want to scare it and make matters any worse. My hands were shaking as I reached out for it. Then it backed up slowly, knocked over a bottle, and freaked out.

"No!" I screamed as it broke nearly every bottle on the vanity. With every shattering sound it became more scared. It flipped around on the vanity for about five minutes before it ran out of the room. I looked in shear terror at the mess it made, and the tracks it left on the white carpet. But I had to follow it.

It ran down the hallway and turned into Autumn's room. Then it must have used Water Gun to try and clean itself off. But it only made it worse... The little guy soaked everything in Autumn's lilac colored room. I made another attempt to grab him, but he was slippery and made it back out to the hallway. Luckily it ran back towards mom's room instead of to Hazel's room.

The it ran down stairs and into the kitchen. There it broke several glasses and spilled a bunch of coffee beans and sugar. I grabbed a blanket from the living room and ran back into the kitchen. The little guy was on the floor breathing heavily. My initial plan was to throw the blanket over him and grab him. But now I saw how tired and scared he was, I didn't want to scare him anymore.

"Hey, buddy... Are you okay?" I put the blanket down and slowly walked toward him. He was still wheezing, so I was able to get closer to him. Then I sat down right next to him, "It's okay, every thing's okay." I tried to comfort him. Finally, after a few minutes of catching his breath, he looked up at me. But it was a sweet, trusting look.

"See? You're okay." I gently patted his head. He was completely filthy from all of the beauty products he had on himself. "How about I clean you up a little? Then you can rest in my bed, would you like that?" The Mudkip crawled into my arms, so I took that as a yes.

I took him upstairs to the big bathroom across the hall from mom's room. Then I put him in the sink. He, however, had other plans. He jumped from the sink into the bathtub. It was cute, he could barely fit in it cause he was just so small. I shrugged and turned on the water.

The Mudkip had a great time splashing around. And I was having so much fun that I didn't even care about the floor getting soaked. When he was done, I picked him up and pulled the stopper. Then I took him up the rickety stairs and placed him on my bed. He loved it. I had a bunch of old blankets that I used, and he smashed into all of them and got comfortable. I watched him for a minute. I had always wanted a Mudkip as my starter pokemon. Brendan and I talked about it all the time. He was going to get a Torchic, and I would get a Mudkip.

Suddenly the reality of what a mess the house was sank in. I ran down my stairs to see that Hazel's room was perfectly in tact, so I shut the door. Autumn's room was soaking wet everywhere, but I didn't see any real damage. The little mud tracks didn't reach her room, so it just needed to dry. I squished across the carpet and yanked open the windows. Then I shut the door. Halfway down the hall I could see the mud again, and mom's room was just chaos.

While I was staring into the room, my heart sank. I heard the front door creek open... And the front door was in the kitchen.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" I heard my mother scream. I tore out of her room and up the stairs. I grabbed Mudkip.

"You have to lay low buddy. I don't know what they'll do to you..." But I didn't know where to put him. I looked out my window desperately. Then I saw Brendan leaving his house. "BRENDAN!" I shouted for him and he turned around.

As fast as he could he climbed the tree up to my room. "May, what is it. Where did you get the Mudkip?"

"I promise I'll tell you later, just take him. I don't know how he got in the house but I know he's wild. Just give him to your dad or something. Just hurry!" I shoved Mukip in his arms and Brendan climbed back down the tree. I didn't have time to watch him go, I had to accept my death.

I walked slowly down the hallway, listening to my sisters and mother screaming baout the mess. At the stairs, I was met by Mightyena, who growled loudly.

"She's on the stairs mommy!" I heard Hazel scream. My life was over.

"AGATHA! GET IN HERE! NOW!"

I walked passed Mightyena, who was still growling. Then I turned a corner to see my fuming mother and two giggling sisters. I looked down at my feet.

"Agatha, what happened?" Mom said through gritted teeth.

"A pokemon got inside. And I couldn't catch it. And it just kept running..." I said quietly, still looking down.

Mom took a few steps forward and grabbed my face with one hand. "You will look at me when you talk. Now tell me the truth. What did you do?"

I couldn't believe it, she didn't believe me. Oh wait, that did sound like mom.

"I told you, a pokemon got in and it went crazy."

She took her hand off my face just to bring it back with excessive force. I stumbled to the floor with pain. She hit the same place Autumn had the oher day. My ears were ringing and my eyes started to water. But I got back up to my feet to prevent more injury.

"You will clean it all. I know what you did. Now get to work." Mom walked passed me and headed upstairs. I could only close my eyes as I waited for more punishment.

"Looks like little Aggie got in big trouble," Hazel said giggling. Mom was almost to the top of the stairs.

"Well, you heard mommy. You better get to work," Autumn said with pure venom in her voice. But I was petrified, I heard mom's door open, then an earth-shattering scream.

Autumn and Hazel left me in their dust to go and see mom. I just stood there, enjoying my last seconds alive.

Mom came busting down the stairs, which was unusual. Noral she would grasp onto her cane. I guessed I can add the cane to her pile of lies. She approached me menacingly.

"W-what d-d-did you d-d-o?" She was shaking with anger.

"Mom, it was the pokemon," I said quietly. I couldn't look her in her bloodshot eyes. Then I seemed to have lit the fuse that set her off.

"YOU LIAR! I KNOW THAT YOU DID IT YOURSELF! YOU TRASHED THE HOUSE JUST TO GET A LITTLE ATTENTION!" She took a deep breath. "You will clean it. All of it. And I will her no more lies coming out of your filthy little mouth."

Suddenly Brendan's advice rushed back to me.

_You have to get a little adventure in you..._

I looked up form my shoes, "I'm not a liar."

Mom opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Instead she hit me harder than ever before. I spun around and hit the ground, then I just lay there.

"You need to learn to except who you are, May. I will not put up with this from you. Listen to me, you will do as your told. You will like it. And you will never talk back to me again."

I heard her leave the room. But I continued to lay on the floor. I heard her tell Autumn and Hazel that they would be staying at the hotel in Oldale for the night. Then they all walked passed my body on the kitchen floor.

"Bye Aggie," Hazel said with a kick. "I can't believe I'm not good enough for you to hate, you didn't even touch my room." Another kick in the ribs.

"How dare you talk to mother like that. You ungrateful little-" She kicked me in the stomach and I didn't hear what she called me.

Then mom walked by without a word.

I just lay there, lost in my thoughts. Mom called me May, she hasn't done that in years. I know that she was mad at me, but Brendan was right. I needed to learn to stand up for myself. I needed a little adventure in my life...


	3. Trapped

Chapter Two: Trapped.

When I finally peeled myself off the floor, I noticed a blood stain where my face had been. I walked to the tiny bathroom under the stairs to see just what mom had done to my face. It was really hard to walk, Hazel and Autumn kicked me so hard. But I eventually stumbled into the bathroom and stared into the mirror.

The purple bruise on the side of my face had been recolored. It was now a brilliant shade of maroon. My nose was the thing that had been bleeding, and my cheek was bright red to match the blood. Although, nothing was broken. So I cleaned myself up then began to clean the house.

Mom left without Mightyena, so he was there keeping an eye on me. I kept ice on the side of my face to make the swelling go down while I scrubbed the floor with one hand. It didn't take too long, but mom's room did. The white carpet took a lot more scrubbing then the tile floor. But I managed to clean up all the stains, and the broken bottles. Her room and the kitchen were spotless.

Autumn's room was the biggest issue. It was soaked everywhere. So I just laid a buch of towels everywhere and stomped around on them to soak it out of the carpet. When I was done, I put all the towels in the dryer and walked up to my room. While going passed Hazel's pink room, I had the urge to just destroy everything in it. But I was in enough trouble, so I just walked up the stairs to my little attic.

I pulled my chair over to the window and looked out of it. I still had the bag of ice pressed firmly on the right side of my face. I could feel my heart beat in my temple, and my eyes would start to water from pain if I pressed too hard. I didn't know what to do... I was trapped here, mom would never let me leave. And my useless sisters weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

The pain of my face, nose, and heart suddenly collided. I began to cry. I just sat there crying gently into the towel I had wrapped around the ice. But then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"May? What's wrong, what happened?" It was Brendan, he obviously saw me crying out the window.

I looked at him with teary eyes. He fell through the little window and stood in front of me. "May, please stop crying. Please?" But I couldn't. My hands were shaky causing me to drop the ice and reveal my maroon forehead. Brendan gasped.

"May, I think I know what will make you feel better. Come on," He grabbed my hands and pulled me up. I didn't want to go anywhere.

"Brendan, please. They'll kill me," I protested. But he insisted.

"It will just be for a second, I promise. Follow me."

He went out the window and stood on a branch. Then he held out his hand for mine. I shoved the towel in my pocket and grabbed his hand. It was weird to go out the window this way, but then I didn't mind. I couldn't remember the last time I had been out of the house. Brendan helped me climb all the way down to the ground. I looked around cautiously, it was the middle of the day.

"Don't worry so much. I just have to show you something in the lab, dad's gone for the day."

He led me passed his house to the pokemon lab behind it. The doors slid open as we walked in. I had never been inside this lab, or even this far from my house. But I saw it all the time, and the inside just blew me away.

There were machines everywhere with all different kinds of reading on them. One wall was completely filled with books. Then in the back there were pokeballs in sets of three.

"This is where dad keeps all the starter pokemon. He won't let me pick out mine yet, just cause I won't be sixteen until next anyway, the reason I wanted to show you this was because I know where you got that Mudkip from. He escaped this morning, and he just hatched yesterday," he led me through a door in the back. Inside there were a dozen egg incubators. Some had a green and red egg, some had a red and orange egg, and some had an orange and blue egg. One incubator was empty though.

"See? He just hatched last night. When dad took him out he ran off, we thought he went back into Route 101. So we spent the whole day out there. But I don't know how he got back into your house..."

"Brendan, he got into my mom's mud bath. Then he used water gun and soaked Autumn's room. Then he ran into the kitchen and broke everything. I... Actually, I've been wanting to do something like that my whole life." I managed a smile. I really always have wanted to just destroy the house. Brendan and I shared some laughs while I explained it in more detail.

"I think you should get going, May. You don't want your mom to find out you're gone."

"Yeah, I should go. But thanks for bringing me here. Hopefully I'll see this place in two months." I let myself out of the lab and began to walk toward my house. But when I was half way there, I heard something.

_...May._

I spun around, thinking it was Brendan, but nobody was there. I looked at all of the windows on the lab, but still found no one. So I continued to walk.

_May._

The voice was louder now. I kept looking all around me but I was the only one in town. I glanced over to the Route 101 entrance and saw some bushes rustling. So I ran over and looked in them. I was listening so hard for that voice to talk again, but it didn't. Was it in my head?

"AGATHA!"

That voice wasn't in my head.

"WHAT are you doing?" My mother yelled as she hobbled over to me. "I just can't trust you anymore can I? Get. In. The. House." She was once again shaking with anger. As I was walking back, I heard Hazel and Autumn arguing. They were talking about how it was unfair that they didn't get to stay at the hotel. My mother stayed quiet and that only scared me more. I got to the house first and contemplated just locking the door... But mom can move pretty fast when she's mad at me. She pushed me into the door way. I tripped on the small step and stumbled into the kitchen.

"May, I don't know what you think you're doing. How dare you leave the house. That is rule number one here. YOU MAY NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE! I can't believe it. First you trash up the whole house, then you deliberately break my rules. GET UP TO YOUR ATTIC NOW!"

I wasted no time. I ran from the kitchen and got to my room within seconds. Mom had never, ever used my real name in front of my sisters. I knew she was mad at me. But I had no clue what would be in store for me.

The next morning I awoke suddenly because of a knock on the front door. I looked out my window to see two Machoke's standing there.

"Oh, thank you for coming so quickly. We just need a door replaced," I heard mom say. Then there was a bunch of banging as all of them walked up the stairs. "Just attach it right there. Oh don't worry just snap it on and you can go."

My heart dropped as I realized where she was putting the door. At the bottom of my steps in the empty door way. The Machokes used no tools, I just heard the door hinges being banged onto the wall. Then they left, and mom came up the rickety stairs.

"May. You are out of control. And I can't risk it anymore. You will behave even if that means you cannot leave this room. I told you that you need to just accept who you are. But because you're so stubborn, I have to go to drastic measures. I'm so sorry about this," she had a large key in her hand. "You have to learn somehow." I doubted that she was sorry. She had a look of pure pleasure on her face as she showed me the old key and walked down the stairs. I heard the door click shut and the lock tumble.

I was trapped.

_May..._

The voice again. This time I was in my room, how could I hear anyone this clearly in my room?

_It will all be okay._

"Who are you?" I said out loud. If I was going insane I might as well do it right.

The voice didn't answer. So I gave up and let the reality of being trapped take over my thoughts. I didn't know what had happened. Everything was going fine up until that Mudkip got in. I would say that it ruined my life, but had it really? I was alone now, no sisters to boss me around, and no mother to hit me. It wasn't all bad. And maybe I could actually live up here in peace.

But how would I eat? That answer never came to me. Of course, I had a hoard of food from Brendan that I kept under my bed. But how long would that last me? Well, there was really nothing else to think about. I've been trapped, and there was no way out.

For the next two days I stayed up in my room. Mom would let me out for five minutes every night so I could go to the bathroom. But she would escourt me there and back. I stayed silent during these little trips, but I wanted so badly to kick the cane out from underneath mom and slam the door in Autumn's sneering face. If anything it would get me more time in my attic, which was all I really wanted.

On my third nightly bathroom break, Autumn tripped me. But I had to let it slide. I didn't want to get hit anymore. So I got up and walked up my stairs as the door closed behind me.

The next morning, I woke up to arguing. But it was outside my window. So I poked my head out to see Autumn and Hazel walking down the path to Route 101. Mother was following behind.

I took this opportunity to put my first plan into action. I had been working on ways to pick my lock. I gathered things from around my room that would fit in the old keyhole. So far I only had a pencil, a hanger, and a stick from the tree outside. But it couldn't hurt to try. I walked down the rickety stairs to the door. First I shoved the pencil in the keyhole. I jammed it around, but I only ended up breaking it. Next I tried the stick, but it broke too. Finally I twisted the hanger around inside the keyhole and I heard it click. I opened the door slowly.

Mightyena was waiting for me outside the door, and sprang when he saw me. He managed to get my hand between his massive teeth and bite down. I ripped my hand away from him and slammed the door. I sat on the steps and held my hand close to my body. It wasn't broken, just smashed and a little ripped up.

"May?" I heard Brendan's voice. Followed by him coming in through the window. I stood up and walked up the stairs to meet him. I tried so hard to say something, but I ended up just throwing myself into his arms.

"I'm so glad to see you," I said quietly. "You won't believe what mom did!"

"What? What happened to your hand?" He noticed my hand when I pulled out of his hug.

"Well it's a long story," I sat down on my chair and he sat on my bed. "Mom caught me out of the house after I left the lab. I heard this weird voice, it kept saying my name, but I couldn't see who the voice belonged to... But anyway mom saw me looking for the voice and she brought me home. She actually used my real name when she yelled at me too. It was scary. But then she called for the door to the attic to be put back. I've been locked up here for at least four days! And just now I tried to pick the lock but Mightyena was outside the door and he smashed my hand," my voice had climbed to hysterical as I tried to hold back the tears. My crushed hand was the least of my problems.

Brendan looked like he was ready to cry too. "May, you can't let this happen to you. This is crossing the line. Your mother shouldn't be able to do this to you."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't get out. I can't fight."

Brendan opened his mouth to say something, but no noise came out. Instead I heard the front door slam open and Mightyena growling.

"Brendan! Get out!" I said jumping to my feet and pushing him towards the window. But he turned around and grabbed both my shoulders.

"I'll think of a way to get you out. I promise." Then he was out the window and down the path to his house.

Suddenly the door at the bottom of my stairs opened. I put y bloody hand behind me and faced the stairs. Mom appeared followed by Autumn and Hazel's sneering faces.

"Good news Agatha. I've decided to let you out. You see, the chores around the house have been lacking. So we... What is behind your back?"

My heart sank and I didn't move.

"Agatha. What. Is. It?"

I still didn't move. Mom looked to Autumn who walked forward and twisted my arms out in front of me. Then she laughed at my mangled hand.

"What did you do?" Hazel said disgustedly.

"I... Uh... Um..." I couldn't say anything. If I said that Mightyena did it then they would know I could pick he lock. I couldn't think of anything else that could put a bunch of teeth marks in me...

"You didn't try to sneak out did you?"

I just stared at mom while Hazel and Autumn bust out in laughter.

"Well then, I guess we'll be hiring a maid." Mom turned on her heel and Autumn threw me to the ground.

"Mom! Mom, please! Don't leave me up here! Please!" I was actually begging my own mother to give me mercy. But she was already down the steps and the door was locked once again. I stayed on my floor and began to cry. I don't know how long I was there, but the tears just wouldn't stop.

Finally the sun went down, and my eyes began to dry. I continued to lay on the floor. What did I have to get up for? I closed my eyes and started to doze off.

"May? MAY! What happened?"

I opened my eyes to see Brendan crouching over me.

"She won't let me out, ever. She knows I tried to get out. I'm trapped again."

"May, I know a way to get you out." He grabbed my arms and pulled me up to my feet.

"But I can't!" I protested.

"Yes you can, please... Just trust me." I looked into his eyes for a long time. I didn't know what to think. Mom would kill me if I left... But what if Brendan was right?

"She can't find me, you have to promise."

"Of course she won't find you. We'll be too busy traveling and collecting badges!"

My heart fluttered and a huge smile spread across my face. "Brendan..."

"Just come with me," he held out his hand.

"I... We're not old enough."

"We're only a couple month's off, and my dad's the professor of pokemon around here. Come on, haven't you always wanted to be a trainer?"

I took a hold of his out stretched hand.


	4. A New Beginning

Chapter Three: A New Beginning.

Brendan smiled as I grabbed his hand. Then he pulled me into a quick hug.

"Come on, grab your stuff, you don't want her to come back up do you?"

I looked around my room. What would I grab? "I... I just need a few minutes." I looked over to him and he nodded.

"Tell you what, I'll come back at sunset. That way we can make a better get away. And I'll talk to my dad, don't worry. I promise everything will be okay."

With that he jumped back out the window and ran next door. I stared out after him. Did I really want to leave? Could I leave? I've never been out of Littleroot Town... Ever. But I hated it here, I needed to leave, I wanted to leave.

I began to sweep my room of everything that I would ever want. I knew as soon as they realized I left, Hazel and Autumn would throw out everything in here.

So I grabbed my backpack and began to fill it. I took down every poster, folded them up, and stuck them inside my three books. Next I gathered all the important stuff off my desk. But then the thought hit me... I should really travel light and have room for more equipment.

I crawled under my bed to the loose floor board in the corner. It was hard to get to because of the 45 degree angle the wall made with the floor. I yanked the floor up and saw that nothing was underneath, I was always too afraid to use it. I stuck my hand inside to make sure it hade a bottom, then crawled backwards and went back to the desk.

The only thing I didn't stash under the floor was a few notebooks. I emptied out every drawer and box and shoved the floor back together.

My bag was pretty full by the time I went through my whole room and my dresser full of modified clothes... But it was all stuff that I needed, I've been planning this day for years. But what if this journey was never meant to be... What if mom would catch me, or if I would fail... Was I cut out to be a trainer...?

"May...? Are you ready?" I heard Brendan calling from outside. I had just noticed that it was dark out, I must have been pretty deep in thought...

"Yeah..."

"You don't sound like it..." Brendan whispered as he crawled through my window. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just, you know... Nervous..."

"Well then let's get started! Come on, we have to go!"

I heard Mightyena growling behind my door. "Okay, let's go, now!" I was practically pushing him out the window. Then we climbed down the tree carefully and ran to his dad's lab.

Inside, only Professor Birch was there.

"Hi, dad!" Brendan said happily. I stayed behind him.

"Hello, Brendan. I see you brought May. Are you tow ready to begin your adventures?"

"Yes!" Brendan shouted. But I only nodded.

"May, you can relax. Do you really think I didn't know about you two? I just knew your mother would come after me if I told her. Now, you two need some starter pokemon. Brendan, I believe your Treeko is waiting for you in here," he handed Brendan a pokeball. "May, I think I have someone here you will recognize..." He walked into the back and brought back a Mudkip. But I remembered this one. He had that sweet look like the one I found in my house, but he was missing something...

"What happened to his gill?" I asked. The little guy was missing a point from his left gill, he only had two...

"This one seems to like to escape. He had a run in with a Mightyena, I believe you know what I'm talking about," Birch nodded at my scarred up hand. The Mudkip struggled around for a minute before he escaped and ran over to me. I picked him up and held him in my arms while Brendan released his Treeko.

"Well," Birch sighed, "I guess I should give you two some supplies. Here's some pokeballs, and your pokedexes. I expect you two will be sticking together?"

"Of course! This is our dream!" Brendan smiled huge at me.

"Great! Then you two should get going, Oldale town is only a few minutes away, but you don't want to leave in the dead of night."

"Are you ready, Brendan?" I asked.

"I was born ready! Let's go!"

We waved good bye to Professor Birch and ran out the door.

I was practically sprinting to Route 101. I didn't want to get caught by mom, or my sisters. Brendan had the biggest smile on his face while Treeko sat on his shoulder. Once we passed the sign, I was free.

"So I thought you were going to get a Torchic?" I had to ask.

"Well, I was. But this little guy hatched right in front of me and we kind of bonded. He's been following me around the lab for weeks now!"

Mudkip was sitting in my arms looking around excitedly. This little guy was the reason I was out here right now. He broke the cycle, he changed my life. This Mudkip was the reason I could be a trainer, so it only made sense that he was my partner now.

"Are you sure this is right for me, Brendan?"

Brendan stopped walking and turned to face me. "May, of course this is right for you. You're a trainer, that's what you were born to be! Come on, everything will be awesome! Just you wait and see!"

Suddenly a pokemon crawled out from the bushes. It was a Wurmple, and it was adorable! Well except for the fact that it had its stingers pointed at me. I put Mudkip on the ground, "Use tackle attack!" I said loudly as Mudkip began to charge. He hit it dead on and I took the moment of weakness to throw a pokeball. And just like that, I caught my first pokemon!

I walked forward and picked up the pokeball. It felt different to hold a pokeball with something inside of it.

"SEE? You are meant to be a trainer!" Brendan said patting me on the back.

On the way to Oldale town, I caught a Zigzagoon and Brendan caught a Wurmple and a Poochyena. I was so happy that I stopped thinking about my consequences. Mom would never find me because I would never go back. I needed to leave, I needed to be with my friend, I needed a life, I needed a new beginning!


	5. My First Battle

Chapter Four: My first battle.

When we got to Oldale town it was still pretty early in the night. I wanted to keep moving on and to camp out in Route 102. but I couldn't argue at the fact that we needed supplies.

Inside the pokemart was amazing! I've never seen so much stuff before! But then my mind put an awful image in my head. I had no money... How would I be able to support my pokemon with no money?

"What do you need May? I'll buy for you." Brendan smiled at me.

"You don't have to," I whispered trying not to be obviously flattered by his offer.

"Yeah, but I want to. And I'm sure you'll get me back one day, right?"

"Right," I said. As if I could ever pay him back.

After stocking up on potions and pokeballs, Brendan wanted to make a pit stop before Route 102.

"Route 103 should be right up here... You want to go check it out?"

"Of course! I'm kind of planning to see everything remember?" It had always been my dream to see the entire Hoenn region. I was going to explore everything!

So we headed up to Route 103. Basically it was a little grass next to a small river. Despite the lack of space, Brendan had to insist...

"How about a battle?"

"Right now?" I had never even seen a battle before, let alone been in one.

"Come on, just feel it in your heart." I felt as though that was another thing I had to write in my Gym Leader book. That could wait for later though, cause I felt it in my heart.

"Okay, you're on!"

Brendan inhaled and sent out his Treecko. I got Mudkip's ball out of my bag and released him.

"Treecko, use tackle!" Brendan shouted. I was caught a little off guard, but Mudkip has good reflexes, cause he dodged it like a pro.

"Mudkip... Use tackle!" I took a shot in the dark, I really didn't know what I was doing.

Luckily, Mudkip did. He ran right for Treecko, who got hit full force my Mudkip's little head. It was amazing that he could tackle that hard. It must have hurt Treecko a lot, cause he didn't get back up. Brendan looked a little down, but I felt great, I beat him!

"Well, we'll have to have a full battle later on. You know, when we have full teams?" Brendan said as he sprayed Treecko with a potion.

"Sounds like a plan," I said getting out Mudkip's pokeball. Looking at his face though, I couldn't put him back in it. "do you want to stay out with me, buddy?"

Mudkip jumped up on my shoulder, so I took that as a yes. Brendan returned Treecko to his ball so he could get some rest. And I was ready to go.

"Come on, lets keep going." I still had the haunting image of my mother and sisters walking down the path and finding me here. So we continued through town to Route 102.

As we walked, I continued to train Mudkip on the wild pokemon we continued to pass. But it wasn't just Mudkip, I started to train up my Wurmple too. I was actually making pretty decent progress. My mind was so focused on training, I didn't notice how tired I was getting, or how tired Brendan was.

"You know, I think we can make it all the way to Petalburg... I mean at this rate." I said cheerily. I was so excited! Petalburg had a gym. It might not have been the first one, but it was a real gym!

"What ever you want," Brendan yawned.

When I turned around to tease him about being tired, someone approached me from behind.

"Hey, trainers." A voice said. This time I knew it was real, not the voice I've been hearing for the past few days...

I spun around to see a young guy around our age. He looked very fierce, as if he would really attack me.

"You up for a battle? You know he rules right? If two trainers make eye contact, they have to battle."

I was feeling surprisingly confident. "Of course, lets go."

The boy sent out a Poochyena, one of my least favorite pokemon. So I sent out Mudkip, who I knew could win.

"USE TACKLE!" We both said at once. Luckily for me, Mudkip's hit harder, faster. The little Poochyena was down as his trainer returned it to it's pokeball.

"All right, I guess you win," the boy dug in his pocket and handed me 20 poke dollars. "See ya," he said as he walked back towards Petalburg.

"I didn't know you get money from defeating people..." I said quietly. It kind of made me feel bad. I've gone so long with nothing, I didn't want to get it by hurting others.

"May," Brendan said putting his hand on my shoulder, obviously sensing my guilt. "That's what trainers do. Don't feel bad. You never have to give up all of your money."

"Well, I guess it's just another thing I have to get used to," I crammed the money in my pocket. "Come on, lets go, I can see Petalburg from here!"

As we were walking past a little pool of water, I noticed a pokemon spashing around. I immediately recognized it as a Magikarp. "Hey, Brendan look."

"You're not seriously thinking of catching that are you?"

"Of course I am!" I got out a pokeball and just basically placed it on top of the Magikarp. I got a little wet, but I caught my second pokemon!

"You're going to regret that when you get into a battle..."

"Oh please." I knew Magikarps had a a lot to offer, especially when it was mine.

Suddenly Brendan gasped. I looked over to see he was getting out his pokeball and had his eyes firmly locked on a Shroomish. A smile instantly came to my face as I watched him capture it in seconds. "YES!" He cheered.

"Okay, come on, it's gonna be morning before we get there at this rate."

Although, Petalburg was only about five minutes away. I checked my watch, it was just a little past midnight. Since we were both so beat, we checked into the pokemon center.

"Hello!" a friendly Nurse behind the counter greeted us. "Would you two like a room for the night?"

"Yes, please. And we would also love for our pokemon to be healed up." Brendan was laying on the charm for no reason, and it kind of made me want to hit him.

"Not a problem," she said as we handed over our pokeballs. Mudkip was back in his now, and it kind of made me miss him. I started to think about the inside of a pokeball when the nurse's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Oh my! What happened to you, dear?" I had honestly forgotten about my hand.

"Oh, you know, just a little bite..." I forced a little laugh.

"Hold on just a second you two, I have something that will fix that right up." She left behind a sliding door. I stood there staring at my deformed hand, wondering what she could possibly have to fix it.

The nurse was back in a matter of seconds with a first aide box. She opened it and began to shuffle around until she found a little bottle of blue medicine.

"We get a lot of trainer in here who have been hurt by pokemon, you know, cause they're just starting out," she took a hold of my hand. "Hm, this doesn't seem like a Poochyena bite..." She gave me a puzzled look. It almost looked like she was accusing me of biting myself.

"It was a Mightyena..."

"Oh, well, still no problem." She gently brushed the blue liquid over my wound. It instantly felt better and the swelling went down. I wish I would of had this stuff while I was growing up. "All right, you should be just fine," she smiled sweetly.

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome! I'll be right back with your pokemon." She disappeared once again.

"Wow, I never knew that there were people like her..." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know people could actually go out of their way to help someone they've never met. Or people who lose respectfully... Or anyone that shows the slightest shred of decency. You've always been the only one I knew."

"You just need to get out more," he teased.

"Shut up," I laughed. The nurse came back out and handed us the pokeballs and a room key. We walked back through the many hallways of the center to find our room. When we did, I noticed it was about the size of my old attic, but five times as nice. I threw myself down on the bed while Brendan went into the bathroom.

I laid on the bed of I don't know how long. But I let my mind wander about what the next day would bring me...

_May... I told you everything will be fine..._

My eyes snapped open and I scanned the whole room. But I was alone. I had no idea what this voice was... Its encouraging words were not very helpful... What could it mean?

"Man! I am going to sleep so good tonight!" Brendan said bursting from the bathroom and interrupting my train of thought.

"Yeah, me too. I can't wait for tomorrow!"

"Well, lets get an early start then," he jumped onto his bed and set the alarm clock for 6:30. I didn't mind the time though, that was sleeping in for me.

"Good night," I whispered as I gently laid my head on my pillow. Before Brendan could reply, I was fast asleep.


	6. You're on!

Chapter Five: You're on!

It wasn't too often that I woke up happy and excited for my day to begin. But, this day was a start of a long streak. I woke up at six, just like I was used to. So I got up and took a shower, something I haven't gotten to do in a while due to being locked up in my room. I took the longest shower of my life, and it was great!

Finally I stepped out and began to get dressed. My hand was better, as I noticed. but it still had a bunch of scars. But that was nothing new. I pulled on a pair of old, baggy jeans over my scarred legs, then a large shirt over my head. I looked in the mirror at my outfit. I thought about using my winning money on clothes, but it was okay, I already had clothes. What I didn't have was enough potions or pokeballs. My eyes traveled up the mirror to look at my face. It was still colored a nice purple, but I figured it was a matter of time before that healed up.

When I was done, I walked out into the room to see Brendan awake.

"Oh, good. I thought you drowned in there," he teased. I laughed a little then began to gather all of my stuff.

"Are you ready? Can we please go now?" I begged. "I really want to see that Gym!"

"Okay, okay, okay. Lets go!" Brendan said while he was gathering all his stuff in his bag and tying on his bandana. Finally he really was ready to go. I raced out of the pokemon center into the morning air.

Petalburg city was way prettier in the sunrise. I immediately turned my sights on the Gym. I walked slowly over to it and read the sign.

"Petalburg City Gym. Leader: Norman. 'Master of Normality.'"

I laughed at the sign. I mean, who comes up with something like that just to describe a normal-type trainer? It was cute actually, and I really wanted to meet this Norman guy. He was a Gym Leader!

I was staring up at the building when the door slid open. My heart skipped a bunch of beats as an older man walked outside.

"Oh, hello," he said nicely.

"Hi..." I whispered.

"Are you here for a challenge?"

"Uh... I don't know... I, uh..."

The man I now classified as Norman laughed a loud, full laughter. It only made me more nervous. "I can tell you're just starting out, right?"

"Yes..."

"What's your name?"

I looked up at him and couldn't look away. There was something about his eyes... "May..."

He kind of made a weird face for a second. "Well, May," he came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder, "You have a long, wonderful journey in front of you. It's going to be hard, but I can see in your eyes that you have it in you." He patted my shoulder.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" I couldn't help but beam at him.

"Now, I'll make you a deal. Once you and your friend back there get four badges I want you to come back and challenge me. I'm Norman."

I shook his hand and continued to smile. Nobody has ever encouraged me before. Let alone a complete stranger. Brendan came up once he saw me shake hands with Norman.

"Hi! I'm Brendan!" He introduced himself and took a handshake as well.

"It was great to meet both of you. I hope I get to see you soon," Norman said as he walked back into the Gym waving.

"Brendan! We got to meet a real Gym Leader!"

"He won't be the last. Come on, lets get going. We have to get all the way to Rustboro City. That's where the first Gym is."

So the two of us set off toward the Petalburg woods.

We spent the entire day navigating our way through the woods. Eventually it got too dark to see. Brendan and I set up camp under a large tree.

"How big do you think this place is?" Brendan asked while we were laying in our sleeping bags.

"I don't know... We have to be getting close though."

"Well, I'm sure we'll find it in the morning... Good night."

"Night."

I layed there with my eyes wide open. For some reason I couldn't shut them. The feeling of someone watching me kept looming over head. I tried to calm myself down and relax by letting my mind wonder a bit.

I started to think about my mother and sisters. What would they do without me? They will probably starve to death eventually. Or be overcome by a filthy house. I didn't know why they treated me so badly. Didn't they see it coming that I would leave? No wonder dad died... Dad. I hardly ever thought of my father. Actually, I haven't had time to think of him. My mind was always full of my mother... I don't even know why he died. Mom just left it at "He's dead." I wanted so badly to have him back...

_May..._

That voice was back again! "Who are you?" I whispered. No answer.

"Who are you?" I said louder... This stupid voice just kept mocking me in my head... In my head...

_Who are you? _I thought.

_Come and see..._

I got it to reply! I sat up in my sleeping bag and looked around. Brendan was fast asleep, but only a few feet away. I stood up quietly.

_Where are you?_

_Right._

Right? I turned to the right and figured the voice meant to go right. I walked very slowly, waiting for more directions. It was so strange, I was listening to a voice inside my head. The voice was leading me the right way though. I didn't hit any trees. Finally, I reached a small area with three stones in a circle.

_Stop. _

I stopped. But I stayed perfectly still. I felt a little shaky, but I was used to unpredictability.

_Please, tell me who you are. _I thought.

_You will know in good time. But first you have to listen to me. You will be sixteen in three days. You need to complete your journey in three months time. You will need to collect all eight badges, defeat the Elite Four, and become champion of the Hoenn region. I'm giving you three months. Good luck._

"Wait! What happens in three months?" I said out loud.

No answer.

_What happens in three months? _I tried thinking it.

Still no answer.

_Okay, I don't know who or what you are. But you're the reason I'm out here. It's your voice that got me into that mess with mother, and it's your fault I got trapped. I'm here now, I followed your voice. You said everything would be fine! Now I only have three months? I don't know what you're playing at, but..._

"You're on!" I turned on my heel and walked out of the clearing and back to our camp.


	7. A Secret

Chapter Six: A Secret.

The next morning I shook Brendan awake before the sun was even thinking about rising.

"Brendan come on! We have to get going!"

Finally he rolled over and looked at me. "May, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just... Getting a little impatient."

I decided not to tell Brendan about the voices directions. I didn't know what was going to happen in six months, but I didn't want to find out. Especially if Brendan was involved.

"Okay, well I'm getting up..." He was getting up so slow. I was already packed and ready. I stood up and began to walk away. "Hey! Wait up! Come on!" Brendan had to jog to keep up with me. "May! What's your deal?"

"It's nothing, I just want to beat this Gym Leader."

"Fine, you don't have to be such a -"

"Hey! Look!"

A man ahead of us was getting harassed by another man in a blue bandanna. I ran up to confront him when I saw he only had to be my age.

"What do you two think your doing?" He said. His voice and demeanor were less than threatening, so I stayed strong.

"Stopping you, you freak." I wasn't used to standing up for myself, but all those years of bottled up rage had to come out sometime.

"May..." Brendan tried to hold me back when the bandanaed man faced me.

"Really, it looks as though you already had quite a run in, little lady." He was referring to my still purple face. I ignored this and got out my pokeball. "Oh! A trainor, huh? Well, let's see what you got!" He threw out a pokeball that turned out to be a Poochyena.

I threw mine up in the air to reveal my Wurmple. She wasn't exactly what I was going for... But I knew she could do it!

"Wurmple, Tackle attack now!"

I guessed this guy didn't expect a Wurmple to be powerful, cause I hit his Poochyena directly. Too bad I wasn't finished.

"Poison Sting!" Another direct hit! This time it was finished and the bandanaed guy just glanced from me to his fallen pokemon.

"You think this is over, Bluk Berry? You just wait!" He ran away towards the exit. I ignored him and turned to the other man.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, really. Thank you so much trainer!" He shook my hand very hard. "My name's Devon, and I work at Devon Corp. Anyway, I have to get going on my delivery! Thanks a bunch, I'll put in a good word for you back at the office!"

He ran towards the exit just like the creep did. I looked over at Brendan who shrugged. I got out Wurmple's pokeball to return her, but she was doing something else.

Her whole body was glowing a beautiful silver as she spit up more and more silk. Eventually the shape of the silver changed and turned more round. Wurmple was evolving! Finally the glowing stopped and I was looking down at a Silcoon. I smiled at her, then returned her to the ball. But I didn't forget about my three months!

"Okay, we have to keep going!" I said while taking off running in the same direction as the other two.

"May, wait up!" But I didn't I kept running until my feet hit sidewalk. I slowed down to look around Rustboro City and to catch my breath. Brendan caught up and pointed out the pokemon center. We walked up to it together and healed our pokemon. I started to worry that my Mudkip and Silcoon wouldn't be enough to beat my first Gym...

_Pop!_

As if on cue, Mudkip released himself from his pokeball. I looked into his face and my worry was gone.

"Come on, buddy, lets go get a badge!"

He jumped up to my shoulder and we walked out.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked Brendan as we approached the gym.

"Of course, but which one of us goes first?"

"I will! If you're too scared," I teased. I was so excited, I was going first no matter what. Mudkip and I walked into the Gym while Brendan waited outside.

The inside of the Gym was actually very small. A few school children were battling each other. I managed to pick out the one girl who was alone. I guessed that was who I was facing.

"Hello!" The girl said, "I'm Roxanne. Are you here for your badge?"

"Yes," I was more confident now. I could speak for myself.

"Good luck!" She said as she threw a pokeball in the air. A Geodude popped out. I was so ready for this! Mudkip lept off my shoulder and started with a water gun, which worked to a one-hit KO.

Roxanne called the Geodude back and threw out a second pokeball. This time containing a Nosepass. Once again, Mudkip was flawless. We won!

"Wow, great job! That was pretty intense. I learned all about one-hit KOs in school. Well, here's your Stone Badge!" she handed me a badge. "By the way, cute Mudkip!"

"Thank you!" I said. I was ecstatic! I ran outside to tell Brendan the good news.

"Wow! Already? You were in there for like 5 seconds!"

"Mudkip is amazing! Get in there Brendan! We have to keep going!"

"Okay! Be back in a second!"

I sat down and leaned on the wall of the Gym. It seemed so unreal that my first real battle was that easy. Maybe they just did that to boost your confidence.

_One down..._

I jumped at the sound of that stupid voice. But I ignored it. I was still mad about the three months I had. I didn't know how I was going to pull off an average of three badges per month, train my pokemon up to beat the Elite Four, and travel all over the region...

"MAY! I got it!" Brendan came running out of the Gym. I stood up and beamed at him.

"Great! Lets get..." But something else grabbed my attention. Behind Brendan I saw that bandanaed guy running out of town with a Wingull under his arm and an old man chasing after him. There was no time to waste... But there's still a difference between right and wrong. "Brendan, we have to help that guy!" I shouted.

We ran in the direction we saw them running. I was a little ahead of Brendan and got up to the giant cave first. My body just didn't want to go inside of it... I couldn't do it...

_May, just go... It will be fine..._

That voice filled my head once again. What could I have to lose? I stumbled into thte tunnel to find that it was ctually very bright and misty inside.

"STOP! THIEF!" I heard a man's voice. Around a corner I saw an older man throwing rocks at the apparently stuck criminal. He was trying to climb over tow huge rocks that were blocking his path. It was actually a pretty funny sight.

"I said stop!" The old man threw a rock with ever word. The theif wouldn't stop though, he just kept climbing. Finally Brendan caught up with me and joined in the shouting.

"Hey! Give him his pokemon back!" Brendan was pretty good at stating the obvious. The sound of another voice caused the criminal to turn around.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Bluk Berry. This time you won't get so- OW!" While we had his guard down, the old man pelted a rock straight at the theif's face. I had to laugh at this, after all the crap he game me about MY purple face. The thief threw the Wingull up in the air and ran out of the cave holding his nose.

"Oh! Peecko!" The old man said hugging his Wingull. "Thank you trainers, thank you so much."

"We didn't actually do anything..." I said smally.

"Yes, but you were the perfect distraction! I'm Mr. Briney. I bet you two have seen my house by the woods, right? You know, I'm a sailor, and I can make it worth your while if you escort me through those woods."

"What do you mean?" Brendan asked.

"You two know that the second Gym Leader is in Dewford town, right? I'll give you both a free ride there!"

I was ecstatic! "Okay! Lets get going then!" I wanted to hurry this guy along, he looked very old. Probably older than my mother, who walked with a cane very slowly. But, then again, Mr. Briney had no cane. And I just saw him keep up with and take down a thief single handedly. I was hoping we could get through the woods quickly.

It was actually a really fun trip! The whole time Mr. Briney told us these hilarious stories. We were out of the woods by sunset.

"Well you two, ready to make a trip?" He said as we headed toward the harbor built by his little house. His boat was actually quite small. It looked like a yacht got hit by a shrink ray. However, the three of us fit. Brendan and I sat on the deck while Briney climbed up in the control room.

"Hey, May. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!" I was in a shockingly good mood due to our new friend.

"Well, you've been acting a little weird lately. Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last night I saw you walking around the woods, well I saw you come back to camp. Then you were in such a hurry this morning. Are you okay? What's up?"

I couldn't let Brendan know. He was my best friend, and the only person I could trust... But that's exactly why I couldn't tell him. If I told him that I've been hearing a voice and talking to it inside of my mind and it somehow gave me three months to achieve my dream then he would think I'm crazy. I couldn't lose the one and only person I had in my life.

"I guess I'm just a little excited. You know, to be a real trainer and all. I just... Don't want to waste any time."

For a while he gave me this weird look. I thought for sure he was going to call me on my lie... But he smiled.

"Good, I thought you had something bothering you." We shared a laugh. Then I stared out in the distance, watching the sun set over the ocean.

_Well, _I thought, _I guess this will just have to be my little secret..._


	8. Matching Scars

Chapter Seven: Matching Scars.

When we pulled into Dewford's harbor, the sun had set. It was incredibly dark out due to the fact that Dewford was such a small town on the beach. I stumbled off the boat and onto the sand with Brendan behind me.

"You know, Peecko and I could use a little vacation. I'll wait here and give you two a lift when you're all ready." Briney called from the boat.

"Are you sure?" Brendan asked.

"Of course! We've got everything we need! Good night!"

"That guy is amazing!" I said to Brendan as we headed to the pokemon center.

"I know, he must be lonely though. Maybe that's why he holds on the that Wingull and offered to give us a ride."

"Yeah, but can you blame him? Loneliness does awful things to a person."

"I'm sorry," Brendan apologized. Like he did something wrong.

"It's okay, I was just pointing out the obvious."

We shared a little laugh as the nurse at the counter greeted us.

"Hello, dears. Would you like a room?"

"Yes, please!" Brendan said sweetly. The nurse reached under the desk and handed him an old looking key. As we were walking back to our room, I guessed nobody stayed here too often. Everything looked very new and clean. I was almost afraid to walk on the carpet, it was just so clean. Brendan opened the door to our room and I let my pokemon out. My Mudkip was getting stronger and stronger, I could tell by the little expressions he always made. Silcoon just fell asleep as soon as I let her out. Then I filled the bathtub up to let Magikarp swim around it.

"I still can't believe you caught that thing," Brendan called while I was placing Magikarp in the water.

"Don't listen to him. I know you've got that special something that makes you special," I patted Magikarp's rock hard scales. He gave me a look, but I wasn't quite sure how to describe it. I felt like we had just connected. I stayed in the bathroom having one-sided conversations with Magikarp and Mudkip for about a half hour. Eventually I heard Brendan start to snore. "Okay, guys, it's time for bed." I said getting out their pokeballs. When both of them were inside, I pulled the tub stopper and returned Silcoon who was asleep in the next room. Then I lay down on the bed and quickly dozed off.

The next morning, I woke up Brendan again. "Come on! Let's get going!" I said jumping up and down on his bed until he rolled onto the floor.

"Okay, I'm up..." Brendan stood up and stretched. "I'll be ready in a bit." He shuffled to the bathroom. I began to gather his stuff in his bag while I waited. But that wasn't too hard. We were traveling very lightly.

"Are you ready yet?" I called. I had already been awake for the last hour.

"Yes, I'm coming," he walked out of the bathroom door and I threw his bag at him.

"Lets go!"

I walked out of the room and into the lobby, leaving Brendan in my dust. It still took him a long time to reach me, so I began to pace the floor. Finally I looked at my watch. It was just past six in the morning. "Maybe I'm starting too early..." I said to myself. But then the voice echoed in my head. I didn't have time.

"I'm coming, I'm coming... Lets go get this guy out of the way..." Brendan still sounded incredibly tired. I guess he wasn't used to waking at the crack of dawn. I, however, was awake and confident. We walked across the beach to the Pokemon Gym, I tugged on the door.

"It's locked?" I couldn't believe it. Where could he possibly be? I started to knock on the door when I heard a voice coming from the shore.

"Hey! Guys," It was Briney, "I saw that gym leader fellow heading to the back of town. You might want to check Granite Cave!"

"Thanks!" Brendan said as we started to walk along the beach. I was honestly scared, a beach cave? Te closest I had ever been to any amount of water was the bathtub before I left that house. Now, I was on the edge of the ocean and it just hit me... I couldn't swim. I discretely moved a little closer to Brendan, in case the waves got too close.

Brendan didn't seem to notice. He just kept talking about what Brawly would be like. Apparently he had heard that Brawly was a pretty cool guy.

"Okay, this is it!" Brendan exclaimed as we got to the entrance of the cave. He grabbed my hand and yanked me inside.

The cave was incredibly dark. The ceiling was full of holes, but they did n't help much. I was even more terrified that I couldn't see the water if it was in there. After a few feet of wandering in the darkness, I heard something.

_Go right..._

I immediately stopped. Brendan ran into me because of my sudden halt.

"What are you doing?" Brendan gasped. I obviously scared him because he sounded distraught. "You can't just-"

"Shut up, I know which way to go," I seized Brendan's hand and pulled him to the right.

"How do you-" Brendan tried to ask, but I shushed him. I wanted to listen for more instructions. It was pretty weird actually, the path that the voice was leading me was completely clear. I didn't hit a single rock or wall. In fact, more directions weren't even needed. We walked right though an opening, well actually, fell right through an opening.

The new part of the cave we landed in was very illuminated. It had many lanterns hanging up all over the walls. Brendan got up and helped me to my feet. We looked around for a while before making eye contact.

"What is this?" I whispered.

"I have no clue... But it's cool right?"

I couldn't deny that it was cool someone had made a hideout inside of a cave, but I was scared. Who exactly would build a hideout like this?

_BOOM!_

"What was that?" I has half whispering and half screaming. My first instinct was to grab Brendan's arm. Once I did, he hid behind me... "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he was slowly pushing me forward toward the noise. We were hardly an inch from where we were when a steep drop became apparent. I don't know how we didn't see it, but I quickly realized we were on the second floor.

"Hey, how did you two get here?" I heard a voice when we landed hard on the ground. But it wasn't my voice, it was real. I lifted my head to see a guy standing there with shocking blue hair. He reached down and helped us both up, he was surprisingly strong.

"We um..." I looked to Brendan. It's not like we were getting in trouble of anything... I was just at a lost for words. My stupid voice led us here, how would I explain that to some guy I never met?

"Well," Brendan started, "As you clearly saw, we stumbled upon your place here."

I couldn't help but laugh, and I guess the blue haired guy couldn't either. After sharing a laugh together, he spoke again. "Well you guys must be pretty talented to find my place in the dark... So I guess you two are pokemon trainers here for a challenge?"

"Yes!" I piped up. The sooner we got off this island the better.

"Well, I guess we should be getting up to the Gym then. I'm Brawly, the leader of this town's Gym." He shook both of our hands. "Come on, I know a secret way out." Brawly led us out through a small tunnel that was on the opposite side of the cave from where we came in. But, we really weren't in a position to question him, it's not like we knew how to get out.

Finally after crawling through the catacombs of the cave, we hit sand and sunlight. I was completely excited to be out of there, but something else seemed to make me happier.

"So can we battle you now?" I asked.

"Of course! We just have to get to the gym first," Brawly answered. Brendan laughed at my over eagerness. I practically ran to the gym and waited for Brawly to unlock it.

"You know," I said when Brendan caught up, " I think that you should go first this time."

"Really? Why?"

"I don't know, I just think we should, you know, alternate."

Brendan just shrugged and walked into the Gym after Brawly. I decided to wait outside and sit on the soft sand. I began to think about how I would be turning sixteen the next day... But I didn't think for long.

"I GOT IT!" I heard inside of the Gym before Brendan even got out. The doors burst open as I stood up.

"And I'll get mine next!" I confidently strolled into the Gym. As soon as the door closed behind me, my confidence drained. The gym was pitch black. Slowly, I began to panic. What was I going to do?

_Right, left, right, left, left..._

The voice echoed through my head about three times before I followed it. I knew I could trust it because of the situation in the cave. However, I wasn't sure if it would repeat itself.

I inched to my right, then slowly took bigger steps. I held one hand out in front of me, just in case. When my fingertips brushed gently against the wall, I turned left. I let my hand drag along the way as I walked forward. This, however, was a horrible idea because I ended up running face first into the wall. I wasn't exactly going fast, but I managed to bang up my nose pretty good. It felt like blood was oozing out of it, but I couldn't really tell. I didn't dwell on it, there were more pressing issues, like turning right.

This time, my hand was stretched as far out as I could reach. Once again, I felt the wall. I made the next two turns flawlessly, until I bumped into something solid that jumped back. My first reaction was to scream and fall backward.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" It was Brawly, obviously. Suddenly a dim light came on. It only really lit up the little end of the maze we were in.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." I said taking Brawly's outstretched hand. My whole body was shaking badly from the scare.

"You don't look okay... What happened to your face?"

"Oh, I always have that," I thought he was talking about my nice purple scar.

"You always have a bloody nose?"

"Oh... I guess that is new... Oh well, I just want to get my badge."

"Are you sure you're okay to battle?"

"Of course! Let's go!"

"Alright then," he walked over and took his place on a platform. "Challenger! Prepare to face Brawly!" He threw out a pokeball which released a Machop. On instinct, I released my Mudkip.

In all honesty, it was a close fight. Machop was actually really good. But Mudkip had a bit more heart. Machop was down.

Then something happened that I really didn't expect... A light surrounded Mudkip. He began to glow, then the shape of his glowing body began to change. Suddenly, a Marshtomp was standing in front of me. I wanted to run up and hug him, but there was still work to be done. Brawly sent out his second pokeball, which was a Makuhita.

My new Marshtomp took him out almost immeadiately! I was so proud, we won the Knuckle badge!

"Wow, a mid-battle evolution. I hardly ever get to see that!" Brawly was just as excited as I was. He walked over to Marshtomp. "Good job, buddy... Hey, what happened to his gill?"

"Oh, he had a bit of a tumble with a Mightyena. It's a long story." I had gotten so used to him missing one of his gills as a Mudkip I hardly noticed it. Now that he was a Marshtomp, it was very apparent. But, I kind of liked that we had matching scars.

"Well, that just proves this guy is a little fighter. Do you know where you're heading next?"

"I guess the next gym is in Mauville?"

"Yeah, Watson runs it. He's a great guy. Anyway, I noticed that Briney was here. I'm sure if you ask him he'll be happy to give you a ride to Slateport. From there, it's a straight shot to Mauville!"

I still wasn't very used to having such nice interactions with people. Especially ones I had just met. "Brawly, thank you. Really, I can never repay you!"

"Repay me for what? I'm just doing my job."

"Right, but still. Thank you anyway." I grabbed his hand and shook it. then he pulled me into a weird kind of handshake hug type thing.

"I'll get the lights on for you. Sorry about that again. Good luck out there though."

I waved good bye to Brawly as Marshtomp and I took our leave. It felt great to be a quarter of the way done... But I was only a quarter of the way done with half of my mission. Well, on the bright side, I still had three months.


	9. Sixteen

Chapter Eight: Sixteen.

I exited the gym with a huge smile on my face. Brendan was over by the boat, talking to Briney. So I walked across the beach to meet them.

"Brendan! You won't believe what happened!"

"Oh my god! May, did you battle him yourself?" Brendan ran over to me, obviously my bloody nose was noticeable...

"Never mind that, I just hit a wall. Anyway I-"

"You ran into a wall? Are you serious? Really?"

"Yes, the gym was dark. Now, if you don't mind, I won the badge, I have a Marshtomp now, and Brawly gave me directions." I walked passed him and up to Briney. "So, um, do you think you could give us a lift to Slateport?"

A twinkle appeared in the old man's eyes. "Of course! I would love to! Come on! we can make it by sunset!"

The three of us, Marshtomp, and Peecko all climbed on the boat. I returned Marshtomp and went under the deck to the little bathroom. I looked in the little mirror at my disfigured face... Well, it wasn't that bad, I just needed to wash the blood away. Once I did, I focused on my bruises. They were honestly getting better, but they were still very noticeable.

I hated my mother for doing this to me. I hated her for torturing me my whole life. I hated her for being my mother.

"May, where did you go?" Brendan called for me.

My mind returned from its dark place to answer him. "I'm just dressing my wound." I came out from the bathroom to greet him.

"You would think that after all those years of getting hit by those women that a wall would be no match."

"Yeah, but I'm unpredictable. Anyway, Briney said that we would get to Slateport by sunset right?" I wanted to change the subject from my mother.

"Oh, yeah. I can't wait! Slateport is supposed to be great! And there's a great beach!"

"I'm not too excited about the beach..."

"Really?" He seemed really surprised by this. "Why not?"

"Brendan, I can't swim."

"You can't"

"No, I've never been around water. The farthest I've been from that house was your house. Water was never a factor."

"I didn't even think about that. But don't worry, everyone can swim. And you have a swim coach in your pocket right now."

I never thought of Marshtomp that way. Now that Brendan had mentioned it, it wasn't really that bad of a thought...

"I'll tell you what. I promise you that I'll learn how to swim, just not now. There are more pressing matters to attend to."

"Alright then, it's a deal," He shook my hand. At that second I was hoping that he would forget.

The boat ride hardly took until sunset. We were there within a few hours and it was only about the middle of the day. Mr. Briney docked onto the beach, then we had to say good-bye.

"Well, it's been fun you two. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you won't get too famous to forget about the old man that helped you out." Briney said.

"Don't worry, we won't." Brendan said, shaking his hand.

"Thank you for everything," I called out as Brendan and I climbed out of the boat and onto the beach. As the boat pulled away, we began to scan the beach. It was beautiful! Even though there was way too much water.

We walked up the length of the beach and up to the city, it was even prettier than the beach. There were shops everywhere and Water- Type pokemon running around all over. Brendan and I strolled past the shops and sat on a bench outside of the pokemon contest center.

"May, I've been thinking. I know you want to get to the next gym as soon as possible. But we've kind of been making good time. I think we should stay here for today, I know we'll have a great time!"

I couldn't argue with his logic, but I didn't know. I just made a face.

"Come on," he said elbowing me, "it's your birthday tomorrow. You should be able to have fun on your special day!"

My "special day" was never special. Usually on my birthday mom would be extra mean to me. She regretted the day I was born. The only reason I knew when my birthday was because I asked mom one day. It's pretty sad that the only act of compassion that I ever got from her was just letting me know when I was born.

"Alright, fine. We should stay," I finally gave in. Brendan was always the one to make my birthday worth living. I knew he would make this one great.

We spent the entire day roaming the city. I was able to participate in a few battles on the beach, which I won no problem. These victories cause my Silcoon to evolve into a Beautifly and my Magikarp to learn an attack. I was really starting to bond with my pokemon. Especially Marshtomp, who was now my best friend. I honestly had one of the best days of my life!

That night, when we checked into a room, Brendan and I immediately flopped onto our beds.

"Well, I think I should give you your present early." Brendan said as I was dozing off.

"What is it?" Usually, Brendan's gifts were book from his dad. Now that his dad wasn't here I was really curious of what he got.

He dug around in his backpack for a while before pulling out a little green package. "I found this in one of those beach stores while you were battling. I know you'll love it!"

My heart fluttered a little as I took the package from him. It had an adorable bow on top. I almost didn't want to open it. Finally I untied the bow and lifted up the lid to reveal a necklace. It was beautiful! On the long silver chain, there was an emerald in the shape of a star. Emerald was my birthstone and green was my favortie color. I was so thrilled that I put it on right then.

"Thank you, Brendan. Thank you so much! I love it!"

"See? I knew you would," he laughed. I jumped over to him and gave him a giant hug. There was a reason he was my best friend. After spending some time planning what we would do tomorrow, the two of us fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up before the sun, like normal. I really wanted to go to the beach and train Magikarp some more... But, Brendan wanted to train his pokemon too. He had recently released his Wurmple, and only had a Poochyena, a Shroomish, and his Grovyle. I know he wanted to level them up. So I woke him up. It was my birthday, he couldn't say anything.

"Brendan! Get up! Come on! Let's go!" I shouted while jumping on his bed. Eventually he sat up and grabbed my legs, causing me to fall and land awkwardly on top of him. I actually couldn't help but laugh, which made the situation a bit better.

"Sixteen and still a child," Brendan laughed.

I rolled off his bed and tried to pull him out of it. He wouldn't budge. "I'm a child? At least I can get out of bed in the morning!"

"Alright, alright," Brendan got up and looked at the clock which read 5:30. "You're lucky it's your birthday," he groaned.

"You're right, I am lucky! Now hurry up and get dressed!" I was very impatient.

Finally I got Brendan outside into the sunrise. Yesterday, we didn't get to chance to explore all the buildings, we were just focusing on training. Today, I wanted to see the boat museums before we left. We headed up to the boat house with the giant boat on the outside. It seemed pretty interesting.

When we entered, there was a single man inside. He was looking frantically around the room. Then he saw us.

"You two! Trainers! I need your help!" He ran over to us. "We appear to be facing a crisis, and I need you to go to the boat museum to check in my boss, Captain Stern! Please, I can't leave here."

"Woah, okay, dude," Brendan tried to calm him down. "We'll handle it it will be okay."

It didn't work, "Get going!" He shouted.

What choice did we have? We ran outside and headed out to the museum. In front of it, I saw a creep wearing a blue bandanna, so I stopped.

"May, don't worry about him," Brendan said while pulling me into the entrance.

Once inside, I saw blue bandanas everywhere. Literally, they were the only people in the place besides the terrified girl behind the front desk. She said nothing to us, and neither did any bandanna guy. So we continued up the stairs.

Upstairs, there was a single, nerdy looking guy. I was pretty sure he was that Stern guy we were supposed to be looking for. Brendan glanced at me then nudged me forward.

"C-captain Stern?" I stuttered. I was pretty nervous.

The nerdy guy spun around. "Yes, that is me. Who are you?"

"I'm May, and this is Brendan. We were sent by a man from the boat house?"

"Oh, yes. He wanted me to deliver-"

_CRASH!_

Suddenly our conversation was interrupted by a couple bandana guys smashing their way up the stairs.

"Hold it right there! We'll be taking those part, Mr. Stern." One of them said, seeing the package Stern was holding.

"What? Who do you think you are?" Stern sounded more angry than scared.

"We're Team Aqua," the other said, "and our boss would very much appreciate those parts."

"You'll have to get through us first!" I piped up. I was suddenly feeling very tough, and I was confident we could beat them in a two on two.

"Alright little girl, let's go!" The two of them threw up their pokeballs to reveal a Carvahna and a Zubat. I let out my Marshtomp and Brendan let out his Grovyle. Needless to say, we over powered them within minutes. The two grunts looked at each other in disbelief.

"What are we going to do? Archie's gonna kill us..."

Another voice echoed from down the steps. "Are you idiots done up there?" Then a large man with a blue bandana and a beard came up the stairway. "What? Did you two morons get beaten by a couple kids?"

"We're sorry!" They said in unison. But, Archie wasn't listening.

"Nevermind," Archie looked at me. "In case you didn't know. We are Team Aqua, and we love the sea. I am the leader, Archie." He held out his hand as if he wanted me to shake it. I just stared at him and he took his hand back. "Tell me, Miss, what makes you want to interfere with us? Are you a supporter of Team Magma? No, no... You aren't dressed for the part. Hm... Anyway, our whole point is that pokemon and people, life in general, in depends on the sea. We are dedicated to the expansion of the sea. Don't you agree, Miss?"

I said nothing, I just looked at him. Was he really expecting me to answer?

"Alright then, I can see that you are still too young to understand. But I warn you, Miss, don't go interfering with our plans. The consequences will cost you dearly." Archie and the two grunts turned around and left down the stairs.

"Are you okay?" I said to Stern, he was shaking a little.

"Of course. Anyway, thank you for saving me. I couldn't let them get to these parts. You know what, I think I will deliver them myself. Now that those weird people are gone. Thank you for everything, but I have to get going!" He left the room and ran back down the stairs. I looked over to Brendan.

"That was exciting, right?" I asked.

"YES! I love battling those guys! it makes me feel so strong!"

I laughed a little. "Okay, let's get going. I've had enough excitement from this town. We have to get to Mauville."

We continued up the north path of town to Route 110. There was a large building that led to a bridge. "What is that?" I asked.

"I don't know. It looks like a highway..." He walked over to the sign in front. "Oh! It's the cycling road! Too bad we don't have bikes right? I guess we're taking the long way."

"I don't mind," I really didn't. I wanted to enjoy my adventure to the fullest. Besides, I only had three months left.


	10. The Rest of the Birthday

Chapter Nine: The Rest of the Birthday.

Brendan and I decided to take the underpass of tte bike road. Considering neither of us had a bicycle. Besides, I wanted to explore everything about this region... Although I wasn't really sure if I had the time... Either way, I was pushing Brendan to hurry up. It looked like a really long walk.

"Don't worry, May. I just want to catch one pokemon... I know he's here somewhere." Being raised by a pokemon professor meant that Brendan knew where every pokemon was. It was very useful, but times like this, it was very annoying.

"Fine, what are you looking for?"

"A Gulpin! I know one has to be around."

It was pretty cute how much Brendan loved to catch pokemon. It was also adorable how excited he got when he finally found one.

"May! Look! There he is! He's mine!" Brendan threw a pokeball into the air revealing his Shroomish, who then used Stun Spore. Brendan finished by throwing a greatball. "Yes! Flawless!"

"Alright, let's keep going!"

"Okay, okay," we bagan to walk. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you, what's your deal lately with the hurrying?"

I didn't know how to answer. My mind was shuffling through every excuse, but none of them seemed to be good enough... What was I going to say?

"I don't know Brendan... I'm just excited is all. And I don't exactly want my mom to find me when I'm half way through my journey... I want to get it done before she stops me."

"I understand, but you need to loosen up. You escaped. I seriously doubt that she will find you. We're having an adventure. You should try to enjoy it."

"You're right, I'll try." I faked a smile as I lied. I just couldn't tell him the truth. At least, not yet.

Mauville city actually took quite a lot of adventuring. It was just around sunset when we reached the pokemon center, and I was completely beat. All in all though, it was a pretty great birthday. I was able to tell Brendan that as we checked into the pokemon center.

"Hello, would you two like a room?" The friendly nurse asked.

"Yes, we would," I replied. When I wrote my name down, the nurse made me jump out of my skin.

"Oh! I have a package for you dear!"

"Who's it from?" I was still shaking slightly from her sudden shriek.

"Well, it doesn't say. But don't worry, sweetie, we don't let anything dangerous get to our guests. Here you go!" She handed me this gigantic box. But it wasn't ordinary, it was bright yellow.

"Thank you," I said. Then we walked back our room. All pokemon centers were the same, and we basically got the same room, so it was no problem to find it.

"What did you get?" Brendan asked as soon as he shut the door.

"I don't know..." I gently tore away the golden paper to reveal a cardboard box. Then I cut through the tape with a pen on the nightstand. Inside, it was full of clothes. "Oh my god!"

"What is it?"

"Clothes!" I was very excited, but Brendan didn't get it.

"What?"

"I've never had new clothes that fit me before! There's so many of them! And they all are the right size! This is great!"

"Who sent them?"

"...I don't know... There's no card, no note, not anything..."

_Happy Birthday May..._

The voice filled up my head. I gasped but covered my mouth so Brendan wouldn't hear.

_Thank you, so much..._ I thought. This was definitely the best birthday of my entire life.

The next morning, I woke up even earlier. I couldn't wait to break in my new clothes! I immediately showered then stood in front of the mirror looking at my perfect outfit. I was so excited. The only thing that was really wrong was my shoes. But it was okay, shoes are meant to get dirty.

It was a good thing my bag was so spacious, especially when I threw away all of my old shirts and ripped jeans. When I was done repacking, I decided to let Marshtomp and Magikarp play around in the tub. I thought I could let Brendan sleep in for a day.

After filling up the tub, I released them both into it. Marshtomp was more interested in just laying on the bathroom floor. I guess he was tired too. Anyway I continued to play with Magikarp, he was so cool! Brendan was completely wrong about catching him.

"I knew you would be great. You're going to be amazing, my little Magikarp." I patted his steel scales. He began to flop around harder than ever. I stood up. "Are you okay?" I asked. I got my answer when he began to glow. "Holy-"

I don't exactly know how or why. But Magikarp decided to evolve, right then and there. His new gigantic body filled up the entire bathroom, breaking most of the lights and the mirror. My arm was sliced by a piece of falling glass as I reached for his pokeball and returned him. Then it was just me, Marshtomp, a lot of blood, and a mess.

I fell to my knees and grabbed a towel on the floor. My arm was gushing blood. Marshtomp came over and helped me apply pressure to the wound.

"Well, that was interesting, right?" I said with a little laugh to Marshtomp, who looked at me like I was crazy. "I think it stopped bleeding... We should go wake up Brendan." I stood up, but was a little woozy. Luckily, Marshtomp was there to open the door and hold my hand. Marshtomp then went over to wake up Brendan while I sat on the bed. When he stirred and looked over at me, he gave me a weird look.

"What in the world happened to you?"

"Well... Magikarp evolved in the bathroom... Then he broke the mirror and I got hit..."

"Oh my god! Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No, the mirror did." Brendan and I had read horror stories about Gyarados. But mine was different, and I knew it.

"May, you can't confine yourself with that thing! You don't know what he'll do!"

"I know he didn't mean it. Brendan, this one is different. I promise."

"But you-"

"I'm not talking about this anymore. I'm going to te front desk and explaining everything to Nurse Joy. I'm sure _she'll _understand." I turned on my heel and left the room with Marshtomp following me. I was sick of Brendan thinking my Magikarp was useless. Now that he thought my Gyarados would hurt me I was really mad.

I got to the front desk. Lucky for me, it was still very early and nobody was up except the nurse. "Good morning," I said weakly.

"Good morning, dear. Oh my! What happened?"

"A little mishap with a Gyarados, he kind of... Prematurely evolved in the bathroom and broke your mirror. I'm so sorry."

"Honey, do you know how many broken windows, furniture, walls, and everything in that room we go through. It's completely okay. Now come on, let's get that arm looked at."

Nurse Joy treated my arm in minutes. As she said, she was used to trainer injuries. When I was all bandaged, I went back to the room. Brendan was there waiting for me.

"May, I'm really sorry... I didn't really realize how much you loved that Gyarados. I'm sorry." He walked over to me, like he wanted a hug. I put my hand out and stopped him.

"If you're truly sorry, then you will never, ever bad talk my Gyarados again. Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise." Now I accepted his hug. When he let go, we packed up and I returned Marshtomp. I explained to him everything the nurse had told me, then we were off. I couldn't wait to get my third badge!


	11. Horrible Things

Chapter Ten: Horrible Things.

We ended up staying in Mauville for a few days. There were so many trainers! I especially love the beach on Route 118, it let me, Marshtomp, and Gyarados train together. Brendan challenged every person who he made eye contact with. According to him, the gym battles were going to stop being easy.

On the sixth day, I felt like we were wasting time. "Okay, Brendan. Come on, we're so ready for this Leader. Let's get going!"

"Fine, but when we lose cause you're not strong enough, I won't say anything."

I rolled my eyes and packed up my stuff. We were staying at the pokemon center and I was impatient to leave. When I walked out, Brendan had to jog to keep up with me.

"You know he's an electric trainer right?" Brendan said outside of the Gym.

"Yeah, so?"

"You've got two water type and one that's part flying. You're at a disadvantage."

"Big deal, just because he has the type doesn't mean anything."

"It might. I mean you-"

"Brendan, it doesn't matter. I'm going to go in there and prove it to you!"

I stormed into the gym. The inside was actually kind of weird. There were electric force fields everywhere. It actually took me a while to maneuver through to the Leader, who was watching me the whole time. He kept asking me if I was okay, which I was. I knew I could get through his maze. I mean, if I couldn't conquer the gym itself, how would I defeat the Leader? When I finally got to him, he laughed.

"You've got some heart young lady! I've seen grown men come in here and ask me for help!" He laughed for a while before talking again. "My name's Wattson, the master of electricity! And you are?"

"May..." His booming voice drowned out mine.

"Great to meet you! Are you ready to battle?"

"Of course!" I tried to talk louder, but it wasn't exactly in my nature.

"Let's go!" He threw a pokeball up into the air which released a Voltorb. I wanted to send out Marshtomp, but I had a trick up my sleeve for later. So I released my Beautifly. Voltorb was down in a matter of minutes thanks to a combination of Sleep Powder and Tackle attacks. Next up was Magnemite, which pretty much took the same path as the Voltrob.

Finally, Wattson sent out a Magneton. I was ready. Beautifly returned to her pokeball as I threw my second pokeball into the air. Marshtomp came out, prepared for action.

It didn't take too long. Marshtomp's muddy attacks, along with his speed and determination, had that Magneton beat. Wattson then filled the gym with an explosive laugh.

"All those trainers that come in here with a little blue friend, they always get me. I never see it coming after all these years." He wiped his eyes and continued, "You've got quite a spark in you young lady. I've seen you and your friend running around he city battling everyone you made eye contact with. I see you two going far. Now, here's your badge, I'm looking forward to battle your buddy!" He chuckled a little before crushing my hand in a handshake. Now that I was a little relaxed, I was able to laugh with him on my way out.

Brendan was waiting for me, "About time! I was starting to think you were having trouble."

"You're gonna love this guy Brendan!" I smiled at him for a second before pushing him through the door.

My back slid down the wall of the Gym. I was actually really pleased with my progress, but I just couldn't help but thinking that something horrible was going to happen. According to my rough counting on my calender, I had about eighty days left until the three months were up. That sounded like forever, but it just felt like a million days too short to complete a journey... But what if my journey wouldn't end? What if I got to keep going? What if something wonderful was going to happen in three months? I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

My mind continued to wonder while Brendan exited the Gym. He walked up to me, "You were right! He was hilarious! I think... Are you okay?"

"Uh yeah. Just thinking too hard."

"About what?"

"Home I guess..." I lied.

"Oh, May, come on. They had you locked up in that attic, do you really think they care if they ever see you again."

"Wow, that's a little rough..."

"Don't take it the wrong way, please. You know what I meant," he reached his hand down to me to help me up. "Now come on, there's a town over to the west I've been wanting to check out.

I grasped his hand and pulled myself into a standing position. For some reason, Brendan wouldn't loosen his grip. He led me into Route 117. It was actually a great little side trip. We double battled pretty much every trainer there. Together, we were an unstoppable team.

Because of all the battles, we didn't get through Route 117 until sunset. When we finally to Verdanturf town, Brendan was excited. He kept talking about all the money we just won and how he was going to buy out the store.

"Well, you have fun with that," I laughed, "I'm going to get us a room for the night. I'll heal up your pokemon for you." He handed me his belt.

"Okay! I'll pick up some stuff for you, too!" Brendan busted into the pokemart while I strolled inside the pokemon center. It was completely empty except for the nurse. After healing my pokemon, she gave me a room key. I made my way through the back of the center, it was easy now, they were all pretty much the same.

The room was clean and perfect like normal. I threw my bag down, put Brendan's belt on the bed, and flopped down in a chair. Since we were so busy, I didn't really have time to think about the three months... But now, it all came back to me.

"May? What room are you in?" Brendan's voice was echoing through the hall outside. I got up and opened the door, deciding to think later. "You won't believe all the stuff I got!"

Brendan went through every piece of medicine and equipment in the giant bag he was carrying. I was interested, but at the same time, exhausted. When he was half way through, I fell asleep.


	12. Annoying

Chapter Eleven: Annoying.

The next morning, I woke up to see Brendan fast asleep in his pile of supplies. I laughed at him before heading to the bathroom. Once I was done showering, I got dressed and packed up my bag. For some reason, I'd been letting Brendan sleep in a lot more lately.

"Brendan," I whispered while sitting on his bed, "come on, let's get going."

He stirred a little bit, I rolled my eyes. His bag was laying on the floor wide open, so I began to sort all of his stuff into it. Finally I heard his voice. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get up?"

"I see..." He got up and stretched. "So what are we doing today?"

"Well, we have a long way to go to get to the next Gym, so I figured we should start heading there."

"Right," Brendan got up, changed his shirt, and put his bag on his back. "Let's go!"

Verdanturf Town was very pretty in the morning light. I began to walk back towards Route 117, but Brendan grabbed my arm.

"Wait, look over there..." He was pointing at a small cave at the north point of town. "Wanna check it out?"

I didn't want to. Caves weren't exactly my thing, but... I was starting to get a little more adventurous. "Why not?" I answered.

We entered the tiny cave to find that it was very well lit inside. It reminded me of the cave that we met Mr. Briney in. I watched my step until we got to a hiker, who confirmed our location.

"Hello fellow travelers! You wouldn't happen to be trainers would you?"

"Yes?" Brendan answered.

"Oh, great! You see, a few weeks ago, all those rocks fell and blocked the path to Rustboro Town. I was hoping that one of your pokemon could help smash up the rocks?"

I looked to Brendan. He was thinking hard. Of course, I had an immediate answer. "I think my Gyarados can."

"Awesome! Well, get to it young lady!"

I was ecstatic! I loved being helpful, especially when I could show off my Gyarados. The pokeball flew up into the air and in seconds all the rocks were gone and the path was cleared. It made the loudest, coolest noise ever too. When the dust settled, I heard Brendan's and the hiker's voice, "Awesome!"

Suddenly a man appeared, from the Rustboro side of the cave. "Y-you cleared the rocks?"

"Yes..." I was a little scared, this guy sounded upset. "I-I'm sorry..." I stuttered.

"No, this is amazing!" his voice changed dramatically. As he said this, a girl wondered into the cave from the Verdanturf side.

"Oh my God," she said, then ran forward to embrace the man. The two of them hugged, kissed, and thanked me once more. I smiled at them.

Brendan came up and put his hand on my shoulder, which made my stomach do a few flips. "Come on, cupid, we have to keep going." I laughed uneasily, he must have felt how awkward it was. We exited the cave together.

It didn't take too long to get up to Route 111. However, it did take a long time to get through it. There were so many trainers. Once we got to the desert, Brendan said we went too far.

"We're supposed to be looking for a cable car... Not a desert..." He mumbled looking at his map. "Route 112... Should be to the left of here..."

Brendan was terrible with directions, it was actually shocking that we made it that far. We only went a few steps when I saw a giant sign labeled "ROUTE 112". I rolled my eyes as we walked past it.

There were a few more trainers to battle as we climbed up to the cable cars. Needless to say, we crushed them. Pretty much all of the trainers were defeated, except for two. Brendan headed off toward them, then I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait... There's something weird about them..." I said. When I noticed they were talking, I put my finger to my lips. We slowly inched toward them, hiding behind a few rocks. I peeked over the top to get a good look at them. The two were wearing a red and black outfit with the hood up, it looked incredibly odd. One of them talked, and I threw myself down.

"Do you really think this will work?" The voice was raspy and deep.

"How should I know? All the boss told me was that this might be it. That's all." This voice was high and very stern.

"Well I don't understand why we have to stay here. Why can't we help get the Meteor-"

"Shut up! You want our plan to be out there to everyone? That's exactly why you can't help!"

I was deeply interested in this conversation. Brendan pulled on my sleeve and pointed for me to move. We crept back to the stairs and onto the grass of Route 112.

"Who were those guys?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know... But they were talking about getting something... Maybe they're still talking...?" I moved toward the stairs once again. Brendan grabbed my arm roughly.

"May, obviously they're up to no good. Who wears hoods like that?"

"Duh they're up to know good. But maybe we can stop them?"

"I don't want you to get hurt, you don't know what they can do."

"I know they can guard a chairlift." I scoffed.

"Come on, you were just rushing me to get to the next Gym. I think I know a shortcut."

"Fine." I said shortly. We continued into a cave underneath the chairlift. It was incredibly hot and steamy, it just didn't seem safe. Luckily, before I passed out, we emerged into an area covered in soot.

If there had been more warning, this place would have been pretty. But, I took a giant breath of what I assumed would be fresh air, and got a mouth full of ash. Brendan laughed at me as a coughed and hacked up the soot.

"Yeah, it's so funny!" I shouted through my choking.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew..."

I didn't dignify that with a response. The soot finally cleared and we were able to walk the dirty path. It was actually fun to kick up all the dust. Brendan and I basically ran and jumped through the whole route. Finally we got to a tiny town with a sign that read "Fallarbor Town". The sun was far from setting... And I wasn't exactly ready to turn in. I looked over to Brendan.

"You want to um... Waste more time?" I asked motioning toward the dusty road. Brendan smiled at me, I didn't need a reply.

We spent the better part of three hours sprinting through the grass and kicking up clouds of soot before I stopped for a second to breathe through my shirt. I looked around, trying to see through the grey fog. Brendan was nowhere to be seen. Right when I was going to call for him, I got swept off my feet and landed in a giant pile of soot which exploded on impact.

A combination of the surprise, the shock, and the thick air made me cough like crazy. I felt a lot of weight land on me, which didn't help. In between my hacks, I heard laughing.

"I'm sorry, May. I couldn't resist." Brendan said laying on top of me. I could see him through the soot, and I could feel his laughter. My stomach did a bunch of twists, but then I kept coughing... Ruining the moment.

Brendan pulled me up to my feet and led me into the town. Eventually, when we got to the pokemon center, I calmed down a little. My rib cage hurt intensely, and my head was aching. I just wanted to get into the room.

When we got into our room, he must have asked me a million times if I was okay. I was okay, I was just slightly annoyed at how weak my body was. It was hard to make it this far, and it was annoying that I couldn't even do something that was truly fun...

It all went back to my mother again. I kept thinking of her as I tried to go to sleep. It was becoming more and more apparent that she had legitimately ruined my life. Of course, there was a chance for me. However, that chance was slim, incredibly slim. Then to top it all off, I had some weird internal challenge to complete that I wasn't even sure existed. My mind raced in a hundred different directions until it finally let me sleep.


End file.
